Friday, June 04, 2004
bye bye, blogroll
I took the advice of largeheartedboy and used del.icio.us to create a links page. Then I removed the blogroll from my template. Did it feel good?
HELLLLL MOTHERFUCKIN YEAH, it felt good.
Like a large weight lifted off my shoulders.
I divided my links page into four sections. If I forgot you, please let me know, because I had a lot of links to add and I'm not perfect.
If you don't like it, then allow me to serve you a big load of Ruby's poop on a plate.
Thursday, June 03, 2004
simplifying
I have devised ways to make my weblog easier to maintain and my posts of better quality. If I don't think of blogging as taking up so much time, then I'll be more inclined to continue. This is my strategy:
1. Remove the "reading" and "listening" pages; the goal is to have one main page and the archive pages only. Less pages to maintain. I will leave the "about me" page considering that I rarely update it. I'll try this on a temporary basis and may restore the pages later.
2. Remove the blogroll. This sounds a bit fatalistic, but the politicking that goes on with people playing the "you linky, I linky" game, I think it will save time and effort if I don't play the game at all. As a consolation, I could make my Kinja list public, which is what I use to read blogs instead of my blogroll, but Kinja is kind of strange in how it scans blogs - some blogs on my list are not included. I'm still undecided about this one.
3. I removed most photos of myself and Mr. S; this is due to privacy issues and an attempt to become more anonymous so that I might feel more free to express myself. If you want to know what I look like, email me a request.
4. No more politics, popularity contests and blogfucking. I have a lot of obligations away from my computer, and I cannot spend time conversing online and tending to my real world needs without passing out from sheer exhaustion. I cannot recall the last time I came home from work, ate dinner, then sat down and wondered what to do with my evening. I have to schedule downtime or else I will not have any. I know that everyone says they are "busy". I am genuinely BUSY in every sense of the word. And thus, real world activities take precedence over internet time. I emphasized this so that nobody gets their feelings hurt later on.
On that note, I don't plan on participating in carnival of this or that, charity fundraising drives, take a photo every time I breathe and post it, scavenger hunts, and similar blahbity blah.
5. I will post when I have something worthy of posting, which could be every day, or it could be every couple of weeks. One of the purposes I have with this hiatus is to retrain my readers to stop expecting frequent posts.
6. I de-emphasized the hit counter. I can't make it invisible, so I chose an illegible design. I want to remove any focus on how many hits I've received; it isn't important.
All of these list items flirt with a single purpose: to stop doing those things which bloggers consider means of gaining popularity in the blogosphere. This doesn't mean I'm not pleased with the number of people who visit my weblog and read the swill that I write. But it does mean that I am going to do the absolute minimum to attract repeat readers, which is write. To be honest with you, some of the strategies that bloggers employ to get hits disgust me (and bore me as well). If I had my way about the world, I'd eliminate sites that rank blogs based on hits and links. Some of the blogs at the top of those lists are too dull to even cut a stick of warm butter. What I'm trying to say is: don't judge the quality of your weblog based on hits and links. The majority is crap, the minority is quality. That rule of thumb rings true for most entertainment, art and communication mediums.
So, consider me unpopular, and while that doesn't make me a mean person, I don't mind that I am not playing the "game".
Monday, May 24, 2004
here's Ruby, frog legs and all
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
flaccidity
Friday, May 07, 2004
hiatus
Yesterday I made the decision to take a hiatus from blogging in haste. Lately I have been frustrated at work with Sarbanes-Oxley work, which is incredibly boring, so that spills over into other aspects of my life. However, I've slept on the decision to take a hiatus and it still sounds like a good one. I'm not sure how long my break will last. It could be two weeks, if I find that I am talking to my cubicle walls too often, or it could be a month or two. I'm taking a few trips in July that I'd like to share, so I will definitely post about those.
In the meanwhile, I'll still be around, reading your weblogs and leaving comments.
Thursday, May 06, 2004
what's really on my mind
I am aware that my posts have sucked for the last month or so. I don't feel obligated to entertain anyone; this is an unpaid diversion.
My motivation for putting time and energy into blogging is waning. I think that I have so much to do this summer that I'm trying to find more time to do those task items. If I take a hiatus from blogging for a while, that will free up more time.
I'm also getting annoyed with the "I linky, you linky" game and the criticism that I don't update often enough or I don't deliver enough interesting content. I've cut out all of the personal posts I used to write and instead I write a bunch of boring, useless blather that is completely devoid of interesting content.
THIS WEBLOG IS BORING.
I think it's time for a break.
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
summer work
I'm not taking any classes this summer, so I have over three months to tackle a lot of tasks that have been put on hold. I'm going to finish painting about two-thirds of my house, plant a garden and grow flowers from seed, buy a much needed pair of new eyeglasses (this takes a while, they have to be the perfect pair), repair a bunch of broken stuff in my house that requires an electrician and a plumber, bury some drainage pipe underground, build a brick walkway in the backyard, remove various invasive and trash plants, trees and bushes in my backyard, retile the backsplash in the kitchen, tile the kitchen floor and the fireplace room floor, and make some sales and purchases in my retirement portfolio.
I'm starting on the last task in the list this week.
I want to sell most of my Schwab-owned funds in anticipation for when I change brokerage firms. Besides, the Schwab funds are usually crap, anyway. My portfolio is beginning to look like the inside of an empty closet (in other words, my portfolio has sucked the biggest one ever and I should just give up and take my money to the casino, I'm sure I'd do better there) with 17 single, unmatched shoes sitting on the floor in a disorganized heap. I want to consolidate. I want to simplify. I want to throw out the crap.
A task like this would be easy if I knew what the hell I was doing and if Schwab offered any no-load funds that were worth one tiny little smidgen of the word damn. But hey, I can't get my heart rate up over my situation. I chose them out of my own free will (was probably smoking crack back in 1999 with the rest of the investors), and $120 a year isn't too much out of my pocket to buy a whole bunch of nothing.
bye bye, blogroll
I took the advice of largeheartedboy and used del.icio.us to create a links page. Then I removed the blogroll from my template. Did it feel good?
HELLLLL MOTHERFUCKIN YEAH, it felt good.
Like a large weight lifted off my shoulders.
I divided my links page into four sections. If I forgot you, please let me know, because I had a lot of links to add and I'm not perfect.
If you don't like it, then allow me to serve you a big load of Ruby's poop on a plate.
Thursday, June 03, 2004
simplifying
I have devised ways to make my weblog easier to maintain and my posts of better quality. If I don't think of blogging as taking up so much time, then I'll be more inclined to continue. This is my strategy:
1. Remove the "reading" and "listening" pages; the goal is to have one main page and the archive pages only. Less pages to maintain. I will leave the "about me" page considering that I rarely update it. I'll try this on a temporary basis and may restore the pages later.
2. Remove the blogroll. This sounds a bit fatalistic, but the politicking that goes on with people playing the "you linky, I linky" game, I think it will save time and effort if I don't play the game at all. As a consolation, I could make my Kinja list public, which is what I use to read blogs instead of my blogroll, but Kinja is kind of strange in how it scans blogs - some blogs on my list are not included. I'm still undecided about this one.
3. I removed most photos of myself and Mr. S; this is due to privacy issues and an attempt to become more anonymous so that I might feel more free to express myself. If you want to know what I look like, email me a request.
4. No more politics, popularity contests and blogfucking. I have a lot of obligations away from my computer, and I cannot spend time conversing online and tending to my real world needs without passing out from sheer exhaustion. I cannot recall the last time I came home from work, ate dinner, then sat down and wondered what to do with my evening. I have to schedule downtime or else I will not have any. I know that everyone says they are "busy". I am genuinely BUSY in every sense of the word. And thus, real world activities take precedence over internet time. I emphasized this so that nobody gets their feelings hurt later on.
On that note, I don't plan on participating in carnival of this or that, charity fundraising drives, take a photo every time I breathe and post it, scavenger hunts, and similar blahbity blah.
5. I will post when I have something worthy of posting, which could be every day, or it could be every couple of weeks. One of the purposes I have with this hiatus is to retrain my readers to stop expecting frequent posts.
6. I de-emphasized the hit counter. I can't make it invisible, so I chose an illegible design. I want to remove any focus on how many hits I've received; it isn't important.
All of these list items flirt with a single purpose: to stop doing those things which bloggers consider means of gaining popularity in the blogosphere. This doesn't mean I'm not pleased with the number of people who visit my weblog and read the swill that I write. But it does mean that I am going to do the absolute minimum to attract repeat readers, which is write. To be honest with you, some of the strategies that bloggers employ to get hits disgust me (and bore me as well). If I had my way about the world, I'd eliminate sites that rank blogs based on hits and links. Some of the blogs at the top of those lists are too dull to even cut a stick of warm butter. What I'm trying to say is: don't judge the quality of your weblog based on hits and links. The majority is crap, the minority is quality. That rule of thumb rings true for most entertainment, art and communication mediums.
So, consider me unpopular, and while that doesn't make me a mean person, I don't mind that I am not playing the "game".
Monday, May 24, 2004
here's Ruby, frog legs and all
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
flaccidity
Friday, May 07, 2004
hiatus
Yesterday I made the decision to take a hiatus from blogging in haste. Lately I have been frustrated at work with Sarbanes-Oxley work, which is incredibly boring, so that spills over into other aspects of my life. However, I've slept on the decision to take a hiatus and it still sounds like a good one. I'm not sure how long my break will last. It could be two weeks, if I find that I am talking to my cubicle walls too often, or it could be a month or two. I'm taking a few trips in July that I'd like to share, so I will definitely post about those.
In the meanwhile, I'll still be around, reading your weblogs and leaving comments.
Thursday, May 06, 2004
what's really on my mind
I am aware that my posts have sucked for the last month or so. I don't feel obligated to entertain anyone; this is an unpaid diversion.
My motivation for putting time and energy into blogging is waning. I think that I have so much to do this summer that I'm trying to find more time to do those task items. If I take a hiatus from blogging for a while, that will free up more time.
I'm also getting annoyed with the "I linky, you linky" game and the criticism that I don't update often enough or I don't deliver enough interesting content. I've cut out all of the personal posts I used to write and instead I write a bunch of boring, useless blather that is completely devoid of interesting content.
THIS WEBLOG IS BORING.
I think it's time for a break.
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
summer work
I'm not taking any classes this summer, so I have over three months to tackle a lot of tasks that have been put on hold. I'm going to finish painting about two-thirds of my house, plant a garden and grow flowers from seed, buy a much needed pair of new eyeglasses (this takes a while, they have to be the perfect pair), repair a bunch of broken stuff in my house that requires an electrician and a plumber, bury some drainage pipe underground, build a brick walkway in the backyard, remove various invasive and trash plants, trees and bushes in my backyard, retile the backsplash in the kitchen, tile the kitchen floor and the fireplace room floor, and make some sales and purchases in my retirement portfolio.
I'm starting on the last task in the list this week.
I want to sell most of my Schwab-owned funds in anticipation for when I change brokerage firms. Besides, the Schwab funds are usually crap, anyway. My portfolio is beginning to look like the inside of an empty closet (in other words, my portfolio has sucked the biggest one ever and I should just give up and take my money to the casino, I'm sure I'd do better there) with 17 single, unmatched shoes sitting on the floor in a disorganized heap. I want to consolidate. I want to simplify. I want to throw out the crap.
A task like this would be easy if I knew what the hell I was doing and if Schwab offered any no-load funds that were worth one tiny little smidgen of the word damn. But hey, I can't get my heart rate up over my situation. I chose them out of my own free will (was probably smoking crack back in 1999 with the rest of the investors), and $120 a year isn't too much out of my pocket to buy a whole bunch of nothing.
"Nothing's either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." -Shakespeare
FYI: Schwab sucks
Not recommended: My experience with Schwab was absolutely horrible.
Everything you ever wanted to know, including my credit card numbers and bra size.
Mmmm-hmm.
Reading
Dan Brown: The DaVinci Code
Listening to
Cat Power: Moon Pix
Ah poured mah heart out...
links
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